


Observations from the Old Guard

by smokingcaramels



Category: Warcraft (2016)
Genre: M/M, POV Outsider, Slow Build, drabble-esque format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 07:09:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7257649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokingcaramels/pseuds/smokingcaramels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aldren is a soldier of Stormwind and has worked under Lothar for years. He does a lot of silent watching.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Observations from the Old Guard

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lincesque](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lincesque/gifts).



> This is inspired by lincesque's work (let me) catch my breath. I read it and immediately thought of how Anduin/Khadgar's slow-build relationship might look from the outside as well as what their relationship looks like to his fellow soldiers. This is also the first work I've written since 2008... I saw the movie and was immediately bitten by this stupidly adorable pairing and immediately logged on to AO3 to see barely any fics. I've been refreshing like a madwoman and finally broke down and wrote something. Please please let me know what you think, I'm so rusty its not even funny and I'm worried I completely bumbled this world. I've never played Warcraft and I've been reading some of the wiki to get some background information so please let me know if I've royally jacked something. Not beta'd so please let me know if something is amiss.

Aldren has served with Anduin Lothar for many years now. He joined Stormwind’s army and worked his way into becoming one of the Royal Guard. He has watched his commander grow harder with the years. Aldren likes to watch people, the way they tick and move fascinates him. Lothar has such a presence about him that makes you want to fight for and with him, for Azeroth and her King. He is charismatic and brash and courageous, so many things wrapped in a hard exterior. Aldren is loyal and is fond of his commander. He’s a good man who has been through too much. It’s an unspoken agreement among those of the old guard, as they call themselves (men and women who have stayed the longest with Lothar), to help their commander however they can. They take Callan under their wings, teach him how best to protect himself and others. They help Lothar to his bed after a hard night of drinking and if they’re more quiet on their morning patrols than usual, well, no one but them knows why.

It continues on in this way. Callan grows steadily into a capable and good solider. He’ll make a good commander himself some day. Lothar balances out more as the years go on from his wife’s death. It can’t continue on, life is not stagnant.

The peace of Azeroth is destroyed with the onslaught of the Orcish Horde. Aldren survives the battles. He fights by his commander’s side and loses friends. He watches Lothar throw himself against the Guardian’s magical barrier to get to Callan. He sits in the tavern with his fellow soldiers and watches his commander drink heavily, more than he can remember in recent memory. They worry but Aldren isn’t as worried as his fellow old guard soldiers because Lothar isn’t alone anymore.

Aldren watches the mage, Khadgar. He’s young, untried in the ways of war and death; more bookworm and academic than warrior. Despite this, his barriers hold steady and his spells hit true. The fear of battle does not best him as Aldren has seen it consume others. He sees the ways in which the mage and his commander look at each other, both when the other is looking and in secret. If he notices Lothar shift as if to use his body to block any blows that would come towards the mage, he doesn’t say anything. Aldren just moves into position silently next to the Lion of Azeroth.

He hears about it from one of the prison guards, and boy is he happy to not know what it feels like to be a sheep. He hears how the mage broke Lothar out of the cell to teleport off to stop the Guardian. He hears how Khadgar and Lothar look and spoke to one another. He simply nods into his beer as the others gesticulate wildly about, pantomiming the poor sheep-guard and teleportation magic. (It doesn’t end well for a table and several mugs of good ale, the barkeep is less than pleased.)

He sees the way they stand near one another during the ceremony for their dead King. There is a quiet watchfulness to his commander’s eyes when they’re trained on the mage. When Khadgar catches his eyes and gives a small smile of encouragement, Lothar looks away but his eyes crinkle and his voice booms out with confidence to all assembled.

Even with a dead and new boy-King, life must go on. Security increases and Aldren wonders how long until the Horde reaches Stormwind’s gates. When they go on patrol and the mage accompanies them, he sees Lothar almost subconsciously put the mage towards the middle of the group. When they’re summarily attacked, because of course that is their luck, he follows his training and fights for his and his comrades’ lives. They’re spread out, too many bandits to handle neatly. There are gaps in their line but they hold. Then, the proverbial Lion of Azeroth rears his head and Aldren whips around at the roar of unbridled rage. The mage, so preoccupied with his shielding of the group and the fire he summons doesn’t see the staff. It hits him hard, catching him on the back of his head and he crumples with a soft cry. Lothar is fury itself, never before has he more resembled the beast he is nicknamed after than now.

The fighting dies down and Aldren drops to his knees near the mage. A quick check of his pulse and breathing show him to be alive, just out. He tells his commander and quietly retreats, his fellow soldiers following his lead and forming a loose perimeter around the mage and Lion, giving them their privacy.

Later, when they’re back in Stormwind and they’ve retired to the tavern they, the unofficial old guard of Anduin Lothar, silently nod their heads. They take the mage under their wings. While they do not have much to teach him in the ways of combat, they are not mages after all, they none the less keep an eye on him. Some folk are wary of magic and its users and the kid looks an easy target. Selwyn grumbles about  _ idiotic mouth-breathers who can’t look below the surface of the pond to see the bloody beast that lurks below _ and  _ would they please stop poking at the Lion of Azeroth’s mage before Selwyn has to knock some teeth out? _ Aldren just chuckles into his ale.

Khadgar takes it all in stride and slowly loosens up around them more. In turn Lothar relaxes more than they have ever seen. Some of the other guards, certainly not the old guard, grumble about their protectiveness over the strange mage but they simply smile. If they show a little too much teeth and rest their hands on the pommel of their swords, well, no one says anything. Anduin Lothar is a good soldier and better leader, they could ask for no more. Their commander has given his all for Azeroth and they in turn will give their all to protect what little happiness he has left.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're so inclined I'm on Twitter [here](https://twitter.com/shatteredcon), I mostly ramble about WWE wrestling but hey we can flail about Khadgar/Lothar.


End file.
